DOJ, Sens. Durbin, Grassley Know the Secret

In December, 2010 the The Department of Justice recommended that Congress re-write H1-b law, requiring companies to seek local talent first and "to hire any equally or better qualified US workers who apply."

In this letter, they stated they were concerned that "US workers...have been impermissibly replaced by H1-b visa holders and identify employers who may be engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against US workers."

Senator Durbin (D-IL)"It is hard to believe, but it is perfectly legal to use the H -1B visa program for outsourcing. A foreign outsourcing company with a U.S. office can use H -1B visas to import workers from their home country, train the workers in the United States, and then outsource them back to their home country to populate businesses competing with the United States."

"They are not required to make any efforts to recruit American workers for these jobs."

"In fact, they can explicitly discriminate against American workers who apply for the same jobs by recruiting and hiring only workers from their home country." --Senator Durbin's speech on the Senate floor, May 4, 2007.

Senator Grassley (R-IA) asks Microsoft to seek local American talent first at a Senate subcommittee hearing in July, 2011.

"Mr. Smith [chief counsel for Microsoft], Microsoft is a real employment machine, so we have obviously got to be cognizant of what you say about it, but I have some questions in regard to H-1B. An issue that has been raised about H-1B and L-1 visa programs is employers are not required to demonstrate that qualified American workers are, in fact, available."

"And, of course, I know through visiting with you and other people that work for you, that you and other companies oppose Grassley-Durbin because it requires attestation that an employer recruit qualified Americans first."

"Why is it so much to ask for your company and others to look for American workers first and foremost? And a second question: Would Microsoft support a requirement for companies to first attest and actively recruit American workers before they resort to foreign labor?"

Bradford L. Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, answers Senator Grassely that it would be "more bureaucratic hurdles"

"Well, Senator Grassley, we appreciate the opportunity to have an ongoing conversation. As you know, there are a number of steps in the immigration process where one has to have certain attestations, one has to jump through certain hoops, one has to post information on the Department of Labor's website."

"We would not think it would be helpful to inject into the labor market yet more bureaucratic hurdles that make it harder to hire employees."

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